Germany's Wacker opposes EU duties on China solar modules

29 May 2012 12:21[Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--The EU must not take the cue from the US in imposing duties on solar modules imported from China as this could deter the development of the photovoltaic (PV) industry, German polysilicon producer Wacker said on Tuesday.

“We are convinced that protectionist measures will not help the domestic solar industry, but rather impair the photovoltaic technology’s future prospects,” said Wacker CEO Rudolf Staudigl in a statement.

The US announced this month an antidumping duty ranging from 31.14% to 249.96% on PV products imported from China. Wacker said that some market participants are in favour of a similar move in the EU.

Staudigl said that trade barriers could just inhibit the growth of the industry and are not a suitable way of ensuring open and fair competition among market participants.

“[A] lion’s share of value-added is always created by local businesses when setting up solar systems – regardless of where the solar modules are manufactured,” Wacker said.

Imposing tariffs on imported PV modules would result in additional cost burden, and “hold back the competiveness of solar power within the energy mix, impairing the switchover to renewable energy sources in Germany”, the company said.